Cincinnati Bengals Ruin a Perfectly Respectable Season by Winning

After the promising 0-8 start, there was hope for reaching history, but, of course, the Bengals dashed those hopes by winning at home against Jacksonville in Week Nine.

The Bengals suffer from an extreme lack of consistency. When riding the losing train, don't get off and head toward victory lane. It really isn't fair to the fans.

Hope is a fragile thing, and it shouldn't be toyed with just to save face. The Bengals may win their last three games. So what? Is that really an accomplishment?

For the greater part of the season, the Bengals have played atrociously. The defense would fall apart in the second half, and the offense hung out in nonexistent land.

Suddenly, the Bengals have found a way to win. In the past two games, they have outscored their opponents, 34-13. In the three losses before that, the Bengals were outscored by a whopping 96-16 margin. OK, the Steelers, Ravens, and Colts are more formidable opponents than the Redskins and Browns, but still, why the unforeseen change?

Perhaps, it is the age old notion that the team wants to end on a positive note. Positivity just oozes out of a 3-11-1 record.

Can't you feel it? Certainly pushing that to a 4-11-1 record with a final game win against Kansas City will cause an eruption of rainbows, ponies, and butterflies in the greater Cincinnati area.

I'm not angry, I'm just utterly disappointed. The Bengals have a tendency to underachieve. Of course, this year was no different.

Actually, with the impeccable 0-8 defeated record we rode through the first part of the season, I had great hopes. Instead of a typical worthless year, we had the chance to achieve immortality in the history books, standing alone as the only team to finish the regular 16-game season without a victory.

Unfortunately, those honors will soon be bestowed upon the Detroit Lions. Lucky them. But seriously, I mean it. If you are going to suck, at least be the best crappy team out there. The Lions seem to do so gracefully.

The Cincinnati Bengals end another season of below average mediocrity on Sunday in a home game against Kansas City. Sure, they could end on a proverbial positive note, but then the city would be overrun with ponies, butterflies, and rainbows. The Bengals are already one mess too many to clean up, so let's just leave it at that.